Genista umbellata garrigues

Description (English)

Open scrub rich in dwarf shrubs and dominated by the large cushions of var. umbellata of the remarkable, taxonomically widely isolated, southern and southeastern Spanish endemic Genista umbellata, in association with the also cushion-forming Thymus capitatus, Genista spartioides ssp. retamoides, another southern Spanish endemic, and Phlomis purpurea ssp. almeriensis. This formation, which presents physiognomic similarities with phryganas (unit S7), constitutes a transition between the arid scrub and the thermo-Mediterranean garrigues of section S51P, in particular those formed by the only other population of Genista umbellata ssp. equisetiformis). Many of the accompanying dwarf shrubs, such as Thymus glandulosus, Satureja obovata, Teucrium eriocephalum, however, are Iberian Southeast endemics or preferentials.

Source: EUNIS habitat classification